You referenced Richt circling the wagons & how that’s uncharacteristic of him. What are your thoughts on that?

– Parrish Walton

I’ll have more on this in a story for Sunday, which delves into the subject a bit more. So I don’t want to scoop myself. But information has become tighter, access a bit more restricted, especially as far as viewing practices and scrimmages. Though I should point out that from where it started out in that category, that now puts Georgia sort of in the middle. South Carolina and Boise State have been holding open scrimmages, something Richt hasn’t let happen. But assistant coaches and freshmen – even Isaiah Crowell – have not been shielded from media interviews.

So they can talk (and considering that Searels is gone, that means they actually talk more now than they used to), but they don’t show. Is that the sign of a coach who is trying to cut off media distractions, or something else?

Check out the interview with Richard Samuel in the AJC:
Q: Surely some things have changed. How much would you say is different?

A: I’d just say the signals mainly; actually the whole play-calling situation. We’re doing a lot of no-huddle and a lot of high-tempo stuff, and that’s new to us. There are a lot of sight adjustments, so you have to be paying attention and focused and listening and hurrying up.

We’ve had the whole summer to prepare for this showcase game. We have more speed and strength than they do. I don’t care about the schemes on D and the formations on O. To win, we must block and tackle…

Seth is just trolling. We have not let the media into a practice for more than 15-30 minutes for years. He’s just pissed that SC has opened up now that he is gone. Boy do I miss David Hale, Seth is just lazy.

Right, he doesn’t publish all the “Lost” episodes and pretty much sticks to football. You are a bad dog, Seth.

Where do you get the “lazy” meme? Hell, we all are lazy for going to Dawgbone where everything is laid out for us. I’m not about to accuse any writer of laziness after reading his content. If you have something personal against him, then cut loose, partner.

Seth is fine. He gets the job done. It’s unfair to compare him to Hale which is on a different level and tough to out do. I just don’t sense that Seth is all that passionate about what hes doing. Hale was extremely passionate about his work

It seems simple to me, if you don’t like his writing, don’t read it. I enjoy his coverage. He doesn’t guess as much as Hale did, but that’s not a bad thing. If he doesn’t know how they will use a player/scheme, what’s the point in guessing?

Some of you have built your icons too high. Hale has had good insightful personal articles about players, but Seth has gone to player life depth just as much. Other than reporting accurately and not trying to create favoritism around individuals, Seth’s writing is along the same lines as Hales.

I, for one, resented third party comments about players that could be player attitude killers if you weren’t the favored guy. Especially at QB competition where Hale excelled at sounding as if he had all the inside info whereas he had no more than the average reporter. He just ramped it up in words to appear so. And many little lap dogs ran around his site looking to be in the favored crowd by agreeing with him. It reminded me of kids trying to fit in the “in” crowd in highschool.

Hale handed his site over to Seth and they are friends. So, if you are knocking Seth, you are going after one of Hale’s friends.

It’s not really hate for Seth, it’s resentment that he was the guy who replaced Hale.

David Hale was the best UGA blogger/writer I had ever read till he left. He kept things fresh, wrote good stories on the team, and threw in some entertainment every now and then. He had a great personality and backed it up with great coverage. That’s why I love GTP so much. The Senator covers the Dawgs well, provides his personal insight, and gives us stories from all over the CFB world to keep things fresh and entertaining.

Seth Emerson gives you the facts and tries to give you a feel-good story once in a while, but it all falls flat. He has no “flair”, no personality in his writing. It’s just “here are the facts, take them or leave them UGA fans”.

I haven’t read his blog in over 2 months. The guy just isn’t a very talented writer (there are so few of them out there now, it seems).

Fucking Idiot.
noun – A person that states Washaun Ealey is superior to Herschel Walker by any measure. A person that measures intra-team offensive production without controlling for depth chart, number of plays or opponent. A person that uses touchdowns against ranked opponents as the sole measure of success for a Quarterback. A person that discards criminal history & discipline as mere spin from an incompetent coach that does not reward productivity.

Ealey’s career average = 5.4, Walker’s, 5.27. I know you guys wish you could rewrite hsitory, unfortunately, you can’t.

Back to topic at hand, Richt might have a little wrinkle planned, but I doubt, based on his 10 year UGA track record he’ll change much. he’s still going to try and win the SEC passing the ball (no one’s been able to do that in last several years). Richt’s still going to use TE sparingly, turn the ball over via fumbles by RB’s or INT’s by QB’s (same position coaches). He’ll contiue to rank 12th, last, in the SEC in to margin against winning teams like he has last 2 years.

“Richt’s still going to use TE sparingly,”
-Ben Watson, 3rd in receptions 2002
-Leonard Pope, 3rd in receptions 2004
-Leonard Pope led the team in receptions 2005
-Martrez Milner led the team in receptions 2006
-Tripp Chandler, 3rd in receptions 2007
-Orson Charles, 3rd in receptions 2009, 4th in receptions 2010

Aside from the fact that a Tight End is also used to block when the O-Line and/or the Running Backs can’t block (here’s looking at Mr. Enormous Talent, Washaun Ealey), that statement is perfectly logical.

&

“turn the ball over via fumbles by RB’s or INT’s by QB’s”

So to clarify, you’re saying the Sanders Commings won’t lead the team in fumbles and that Blair Walsh won’t throw numerous interceptions? Outstanding analysis governor…

I see we’ve moved from scoring offense vs. ranked teams to to margin against WINNING teams.

But what is the average gross punting difference in the 4th quarter against unranked out of conference opponents? If that ranks anywhere below 4th in the conference at any point in the last four years, then we should fire everybody including the stadium ushers.

Xon. Do you really think those first two stats are meaningless? I bet if you lined up the teams who did best in those two categories, year after year, you’d find they gave you a sort of power ranking that fit their records and final rank. You don’t have to like jdawg, but you ought to debate the points on their merits instead of making up snarky, inaccurate comparisons.

This will surely disappear into the ether at this point, which is just as well. But I have analyzed these numbers here over the last couple of days. Despite the small sample size, there certainly is a correlation to between the top overall offenses and the top offenses in those categories. But the problem is JDawg’s use of these statistics. You cannot just slide from one to the other. Which is it that we’re supposed to use as the litmus test for evaluating Bobo? vs. ranked teams, or vs. winning teams? scoring offense or turnover margin? (And turnover margin IS largely random, by the way. It tends to fluctuate from year to year no matter how good or bad your team is.)

Most importantly, JDawg is completely mistaken in the WAY he uses these statistics. He quotes the raw data sometimes (X points per game), and other times he makes a big deal about our ranking (7th in SEC!). the problem is that BOTH of these approaches are wrong. The raw points per games is a meaningless number unless we understand what is to be expected, what is “bad” vs.”good,” etc. I’ve gone through this already here in recent days. Similarly with our SEC ranking in a given stat, that ranking has to be compared to our overall ranking. JDawg refuses to do this, and when it is pointed out to him (as I have done repeatedly now) he imply repeats his original point. He is the one who refuses to even have a meaningful conversation on the topic, I am afraid. I’d love nothing more.

The bottom line is that, with the exception of 2010, Bobo’s offenses always rank as well or even better in conference against ranked teams than they do in all their games put together. So, for example, in 2009 we were 7th in the SEC in scoring offense in all games, but we were 5th in the SEC in scoring offense against ranked teams. So, whatever the problem is, it CANNOT be scoring vs. ranked teams, since the offense did better in that category than it did overall. But JDawg chooses to treat an area we are usually stronger in and claim it is a weakness, showing that he has either no understanding of or no interest in properly using statistics.

I am Tired of reading all the Dawg negativity from the likes of Jdawg and S&G lately. We haven’t even played a game yet this year and the past is the past!!!!…O.K., we got it negative folks! You’re already off the bus so just hit the road and don’t come back when things turn around this season! 2-0 is staring us in the face and you refuse to acknowledge it!

You obviously haven’t been paying attention, bnwdog. We won’t improve this season because Richt is so incompetent that he kicks the most productive criminals off the team (whoops, sorry, he bluffs them and they call him on it and leave voluntarily).

Ask yourself, did the team win more games once Mettenberger left? No. Went from 8 wins, to 6. Mettenberger went 11-1 on his new team. Had a positive effect. Perhaps Mettenberger/Ealey/Gray shouldn’t be used as the cause of ills.

Wouldn’t it be more useful to figure out what led to 6-7, than blame it on the wrong thing and go 6-7 again, or worse?

If you truly think Mettenberger or Ealey arn’t incredible at what they do, I dont even know what to say.

I guess that a former blue-chip talent QBing a division II team would have a positive effect; you got me there.

But I never said that the guys weren’t incredible at what they did; they are both very talented. I never said that they were the cause of our ills, although I don’t have any trouble believing that Ealey was one of the energy vampires that is mentioned now. I said they (excluding Gray, whom I haven’t noticed anyone else mention until now) were CRIMINALS. Not rapists or assaulters, but they were both still guilty of crimes. I’m glad Mett is getting a chance at LSU; I’m glad Ealey is getting a chance at JSU. But I’m not willing to trade a little productivity for poor character on the part of a player.

You keep using stats to back up why we should wish Ealey was still on the team. I’ll be honest; I wish he was, because he was productive and it would give us more of a chance to ease Crowell into things. But in the end, he could have 54 yards per carry, and it still wouldn’t be worth having someone who breaks the law and lies about it to his coaches on the team. That way lies an orange-colored road that I don’t want to go down. If you do, quote all the stats you want and God bless you.

Yessir! This post, well, I like it. Like it a lot. Won’t be asking you to hit the road anytime soon. Getcha beer. Was like watching the last five minutes of a Jimmy Stewart movie. Loved it. Stay off the road. Don’t hit it. Cars out there, people driving like maniacs.

It’s all about personal outlook and opinion. Don’t criticize people for having a negative outlook for the team. Not everyone views everything as sunshine and rainbows for UGA every year. Opinions differ with each individual so you just need to accept that.

I’ll be surprised if we win either of our first 2 games but won’t be surprised if we run the table after those first 2 games. Positivity and negativity rolled into one. But you know what? It’s my opinion and I deserve to voice it just as much as you do. Get over the negativity (6-7 will do that to some folks) and focus on what you can control.

Ealey’s career average = 5.4, Walker’s, 5.27. I know you guys wish you could rewrite hsitory, unfortunately, you can’t.

Quite possibly the dumbest thing I have ever read on the internets. Not the words, but the point he is trying to make. Although I will say trying to use YPC as a way to determine who is better is the sign of true ignorance. I am still shaking my head 15 minutes later. OMG it is only .13 of a yard difference, ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!!!!

I assumed this was some guy in the East Campus Village that had never watched football til midway through his freshman year.

Shame on me.

This is one of those clever Georgia Tech guys yanking our chain.

No man who watches football could be so stupid as to continue to compare Georgia’s greatest running back EVER to the most over-hyped and under-performing back of the past decade (Sanks ranks second of course)

Please transfer to Kennesaw.
-You’ll still have HOPE.
-You’ll save on rent and live in mom and dad’s basement (Country Meadows Phase Five?)
-I’ll buy you all the gear you want so you can be a “Bama fan” or whomever else you pick.

It’s interesting to see JDawg use a statistic to “prove” that Ealey was a better running back than Herschel Walker when all it really does is highlight what a failure Ealey turned out to be. He could have been a great one…but wasn’t. If he carried the ball as much Herschel did it’s almost guaranteed that he wouldn’t have maintained that ypc. Likewise, some scout-teamer who got into a couple of games and broke one long run would have a better ypc than Herschel or Ealey. So what would that prove?

Ealey’s real problem was attitude. I think the guy was a physically gifted running back but he was also a head case who wouldn’t do the other things necessary to be successful. He fumbled, often at the worst possible time, and was UNWILLING to block (blocking is a skill one can acquire through effort-nobody is unable to block). The woods are littered with guys who were their “own worst enemy” and Ealey is one of those. I’m glad that he’s gone because a bad attitude can infect others just like the proverbial bad apple ruins the whole barrel. I wish him the best, though, at Jacksonville State. However, unless he gets his attitude right he is going to have trouble there, too. There is no “I” in team–but in Ealey’s case there is a whole lot of “ME.”

If you want to judge backs by carries to TD ratio then a ton of fullbacks will be on the list. In 2007, Brannan Southerland had a 29.4 which bests Walker and Ealey. Southerland is now the best RB in Georgia history

i love that if you factor out the fluke game vs kentucky where ealey scored 5 TD’s, then the whole argument is gone. doesn’t matter if you take out 34’s best game either. by every logical metric, #34 was way better than ealey.

SC & Boise are holding open scrimmages because they’re emphasizing execution over some sneaky new scheme that you install quickly, yet don’t have time to rehearse enough to execute well. SC 7 Boise arn’t worried about Richt coming to their practices. Boise isn’t worried about their ex-QB sharing the playbook with us, they didn’t block the QB from transferring to Georgia, isn;t that interesting? Wonder why?.

It says something about Boise’s confidence, if they’re holding open practices. They don’t care who sees them practice. We want our staff to someday be as confident too. The question is, why arn’t they as confident as Boise? And why is Boise so confident to hold open practices? I’d say it’s because of they’re ability to execute. We care about execution, and signals that point to coaches who get what’s it’s all about.

I have been reading all day and I can not follow your train of thought. I thought that I was a glass half empty guy, but my Lord! You do not even have a glass. Look, it is simple…Walker is not only the best RB ever to play at Georgia, he is the best RB EVER TO PLAY COLLEGE FOOTBALL. I know that you are not seriouse aboub WE. It is also apparent that you were not fortunate enough to see Herschel play live. Who cares why CMR closes practice? It means nothing to us as fans. Just show up for 12 games in the fall and give full effort. Something that has been lacking for a couple-four years now.

Here’s my whole point. What’s been more important to Richt: strategy or execution? I’d say fumbles, int’s, finishing 12th against winning teams 2 years in a row, proves Richt doesn’t wpor on execution as much as he does his strategy.

How often do we hear about how much Aron Murray is studying in the video room? That’s strategy. Only way to execute, is PRACTICE son.

Richt came into the SEC planning on running his no-huddle and the officials nixed that idea for him. They put a minimum time on the amount of time you had to wait before hiking the ball and we felt that it took all the advantage of using it away. They just changed the rules recently.

J Dawg still spending a lot of time here pissin’ folks off. And his whole reason for being on this site is to do just that. There is trollin’ but this person is chummin’ the page for a lot of undeserved feedback. I think you get my point …… please fix and quit flexing!
just sayin’

Wow, this is the longest comment thread I’ve seen so far. Jdawg truly brings the dawgvent alive here on The Senators site. Makes me sad. You are vey fond of 2-8 as your answer to everything. Perhaps you should consider Hershel’s record against the gators. He managed to stay at UGA long enough to beat those guys a few times.

Hey, everyone, I have a confession to make, and an apology. I should have done it a long time ago, but it took on a life of its own for a while there, and I just couldn’t find the courage to reign it in, you know? I had a wolf by the ears: didn’t want to keep holding on, but didn’t want to let go, either.

I’m kind of a lonely dude. I don’t get much encouragement or positive reinforcement in life. So, one night after a few drinks, I was reading aimlessly through Steele’s mag, or maybe I was staring at one of my Excel spreadsheets…anyway, I came up with a desperate plan to gin up some positive attention for myself.

I created JDawg (and a few of his earlier personalities), and decided to act like the most outrageous troll possible. A troll to the third power. A troll that would annoy other trolls. An absolute single-minded devotion to repeating a few insane points, over and over, like a robot. Not even responding sensibly or thoughtfully to anything anyone else says in response. Just repeat the same original point again.

By doing this, I gave myself a foil to come on and refute with a little facts, stats, and logic. And it worked! A number of folks have complimented me for my skillz over the last week or so, and I appreciated it SOO much. You like me! You really like me!

But finally I realized that the monster I had created was beyond something even I could control, and that I was probably going to give lots of DGDs on this fine blog a “cardiac event.” Please forgive me for the game I put you all through, and don’t ban me forever from the site.

I imagine some copycats might try to come along now and pretend to still be JDawg, but if that happens just help me out and say “Hi, Xon!” or something like that, and then ignore them. You’re all onto the truth now….

Xon, not true. you’re more verbose than me, logic? not your forte. so what do you think, why the closed practices, have you an opinion? no doubt you disagree with my assertion that’s it’s due to poor execution. Got a better theory.